Continual Service Improvement (CSI) focuses on service improvement that supports business processes. CSI uses a seven step improvement process plan which is critical for itself and other stages of the ITIL lifecycle.
Seven step improvement process of CSI starts as follows –
- Identify the approach for improvement
- State what will you measure
- Collect the Data
- Process the data
- Analyze the data and information
- Present and use the information
- Implement corrective or remedial activities
Identify the approach for improvement
Before an improvement plan is executed it is really necessary to understand the need for improvement.
The information related to what all services need to be measured is gathered in the initial phase of ITIL service lifecycle i.e. in service strategy and service design the information A thorough understanding of business objectives is done and areas are identified that needs enhancement. It also focuses on the effectiveness of the improvement plan. This data is then fed into the CSI improvement plan cycle.
It would be easy to find out the areas to measure by knowing the new service level requirement, available funds and IT capabilities. IT capabilities are identified in service design and implemented via service transition. CSI conducts gap analysis to identify the opportunities for improvement. If CSI finds that the available tools and resource are not capable enough or if the cost is non-affordable to deliver the desired data then the measure identified in earlier step needs to be revisited.
Data is gathered according to the goals and objectives of service operation. In order to have raw and quantitative data, monitoring should be in place. The quality of data is critical and it can be gathered through various means – manual or automatic.
Once the data is collected it is important to provide it to the audience in required format. Critical Success Factor (CSF’s) and Key Performance Indicator’s (KPI’s) plays a vital role in processing the data. The raw data is organized and divided according to its categories and operation which makes it easy to process and transform the data into information.
The data which is finally information now is carefully analyzed to find missing gaps and its impact on business. The information is thoroughly evaluated taking into consideration all relevant – internal and external factors that can directly or indirectly impact the data. The information is converted into knowledge or facts.
The analyzed data is shared with the business stakeholders in a clear and defined manner, presenting them an accurate picture of the results of the improvement plan that is implemented. CSI works closely with senior management and assist them to make strategic decisions and determine the next step to optimize and improve the service.
As CSI has identified the areas that need a change, solutions and remedial plans are communicated to the management to improve the service. A change, thus implemented for the improvement sets a new baseline and the cycle begins again.
The seven step process is the vital process of CSI. It enables an organizational resource to identify and understand which process and function of their service operations needs major enhancement.
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